CME Group Records Increased Demand for Crypto Products Despite Bear Market

Terrence A. Duffy, chairman and CEO of leading derivatives marketplace Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), disclosed that his company has noticed some growth in demand for its crypto products since November.

During a recent interview with CNBC’s Closing Bell, Duffy made the revelation when he was asked about the state of institutional demand for its Bitcoin futures product.

CME Records Uptick in Crypto Products

The CME chief executive believes market conditions in 2022 could have affected institutional demand for its products.

With the Terra ecosystem collapsing in May, FTX’s insolvency in November, and a string of bankruptcies in a contagion that followed suit, many critics would have thought that institutional interest in crypto assets would dwindle significantly.

However, Duffy revealed that the opposite was the case, as demand for CME’s crypto derivatives products has surged since November.

“It’s really been interesting what’s going on with Bitcoin after we saw what happened at the end of last year with some of the issues going on in the industry. The whole industry of crypto kinda suffered and then we saw an uptick starting in our trades around November, December and it is continuing on here,” the CEO said.

Duffy opined that clients’ trust in CME may have also helped drive sales. Due to the lack of regulatory clarity in the crypto industry and its entities, clients may opt for regulated markets like CME.

“I think people are looking at the regulated market, especially the institution thing. You know, if we’re gonna trade this stuff, we’re gonna trade it on a regulated exchange like CME. So, we’ve actually seen an uptick in our crypto products so we’re quite pleased by that,” he added.

2022 Was CME’s Best Year in History

Meanwhile, despite the intense crypto winter, CME revealed during its Q4 2022 Earnings Conference Call on February 8 that last year was the best in the company’s history, as it recorded significant growth.

The firm’s financial products were responsible for the growth, with a 5.27% increase in revenue from 2021 to $1.21 billion and earnings per share record of $1.92.

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